The Demons Within
by smackthewarptots
Summary: Raven has always had her demons to deal with, but she never expected them to come to life. Now, she has to fight for her sanity, or take everyone else down with her. T for now, might be M later.


Hello all! So as my other fic 'Only Animals' is coming to an end, I thought now would be a good time to start my new one. This one takes place in a time much like my others, where the Titans are no longer 'teens'. All of them are in their early twenties, and as with my other fics I am using Nightwing for Robin and Changeling for Beast Boy. In case anyone doesn't know, their real names are as follows:

Nightwing: Richard Grayson

Starfire: Koriand'r

Changeling: Garfield Logan

Cyborg: Victor Stone

Raven: Rachel Roth (Though I won't ever refer to her as Rachel.)

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Thanks, and enjoy!

...

_Raven stared at herself in bewilderment. _

_Or rather, not at herself, but at her evil doppleganger. The doppleganger's red eyes glowed in a stark contrast against her grey skin and hair. Raven raised a hand, and the shadow Raven raised her corresponding hand. Raven waved slowly, the doppleganger mimicking her motions. Raven reached up her hand to touch her face, and watched in amazement as her twin did the same. Suddenly, the doppleganger lunged forward, tackling Raven to the ground. The two struggled, rolling head over heels, until finally coming to a stop, the doppleganger fully on top of Raven. The evil twin leaned down until their cheeks were pressed together, and Raven could feel the twin's breath tickle her neck._

_"Do you believe in miracles, Raven?" She whispered menacingly. "Do you believe in second chances?" The twin chuckled, and slid her tongue up Raven's neck. Raven paled, and began to struggle with renewed urgency. The twin merely laughed at her useless efforts. "The end is coming, sweet Raven."_

_"I will consume you," The twin pulled back so she could see Raven's face, and then with a sudden jerk, lunged forward and tore into Raven's throat. _

...

Raven awoke screaming and, thrashing wildly, threw herself from her bed with her momentum. Her cold sweat caused her hair to stick to her forehead and neck. She tried in vain to steady her breathing. She was so focused on keeping her powers under control that she didn't hear the banging on her door and concerned yells of both Richard and Kori until they had busted through the door. The loud noise startled her, and several books shot off the bookshelf in the corner. Raven's eyes were wide in shock, and her hands were trembling.

"Friend, please, what is wrong?!" Kori flew to Raven's side, reaching to still Raven's shaking hands. Richard ran to her side as well, pushing two fingers to her throat to check her pulse. Upon the contact, the entire bookshelf upended, and Raven, letting out a breathless sob, scrambled back to the wall behind her, yanking herself from Kori and Richard's grasp. She brought her knees up and buried her face between them, still having trouble maintaining a steady breathing pattern.

"Raven, what's going on?" Richard asked hesitantly, not wanting to startle her again.

Raven lifted her head, her hands coming to clutch her neck where her twin had ripped her throat out. "Just a-" She gulped, steadying her voice. "Just a dream."

"Please, Raven, you have not experienced a dream with such terror since-" Kori stopped short, not wanting to say his name.

"Since I defeated my father. I know." Raven said, her cautious monotone slowly returning. She smoothed her hands over her hair, both trying to sooth her bed head as well as still her trembling fingers.

"So..." Richard said slowly, the question hanging in the air, heavy and sour.

"I don't know, Richard." She sighed, holding a hand to her sweaty forehead. "It could be just a dream, nothing more."

".. But?" He replied, watching her face carefully.

"But it could be something more." She stared up at her friends concerned faces. "The fact of the matter is I just don't know at this point. And at," She paused, glancing up to the antique clock in the corner, "3:40 in the morning I am in no state to figure it out."

She lifted herself shakily and sat on the bed, "I'll analyze my dreams tomorrow, ok?" She said, and Richard and Kori shared a knowing glance between themselves. They nodded, and turned to go.

Richard stopped when he reached her door, turning back to glance at her. "You know you can talk to us.. to me, right?" he asked, and Raven nodded.

Richard sighed, and closed the door behind him.

Raven collapsed back onto her bed, exhausted in every way. She fell into a fitful sleep that only drained her further.

...

Raven awoke from her trance, her entire body feeling like it had been filled with lead. She had been meditating since 6 in the morning, and it was now almost noon. The only thing on her mind was food. Somehow, she was absolutely ravenous. She stood and, without even bothering to check herself in her mirror, headed straight for the kitchen.

She stopped when she was directly outside the kitchen doors, hearing her friends hushed voices.

"No man, you should have seen her. I don't know if I've ever seen her this spooked. She looked like she'd seen he'll and come back still burning." Richard said, his voice tense.

"Yes, her demeanor was quite shaken. She looked most pale." Kori interjected.

"Yo, Rae's always pale." Victor stated, obviously.

"Not like this, Vic. She looked terrified." Richard responded. He sounded almost frustrated by the situation. Like he was at a loss.

"Well did she say what it was about ? What could have scared the scariest member of our team ?" Garfield quipped.

"I killed myself." She said, finally entering the room. 4 pairs of eyes turned to stare at her, and she felt almost naked under their gaze.

"Oh.. um.." Victor said, clearly a little taken aback by the lack of shock factor to her statement. Suicide clearly seemed less of a threat to the metal man.

"Not in the way it sounds. There was another me. She looked like the evil doppelgangers my father conjured to keep you busy while I fought him." Raven sighed, staring out the window to the bay below. "She attacked me and ripped my throat out." A hand came unconsciously to rest at her throat.

"Oh... ohhh." Victor replied finally, looking between raven and their other teammates.

"It was... worse than it sounds." Raven shivered, and began to rub her arms to keep herself warm.

"It had to have been, I've never seen you like that raven." Richard said, crossing his arms.

"I've meditated all day, and so far there's been nothing. If my father is back, which is unlikely, I cannot sense his presence. Which is unlike him. He always liked to remind me of his hold over my life."

"Well is it possible he just wants to catch you off guard ?" Richard asked, his demeanor rigid as he considered all the options.

"It is possible. But I should still be able to feel some sliver of his soul, if indeed any of it remains."

"Not like he had much of a soul to begin with." Garfield muttered, his arms crossed as he stared at his feet.

Raven bristled, and turned to him. "While my father was nothing short of evil, I came from him. He has a soul." She said, her voice wavered as she stared at him, "and I certainly have a soul." She almost whispered. She said it like she was trying to convince herself more than him. She wasn't trying to defend Trigon, she was trying to defend herself.

Garfield straightened, his face apologetic. "Rae, I didn't mean anything by it.. I know you have a soul." Garfield stared into her eyes, but though she held his gaze, she had already moved on.

"The only thing I can think to do is to induce a dream-like state to try to trigger another nightmare." She kept her eyes fixed on his, though she was addressing the entire group.

"Raven that's crazy, you can't do that to yourself." Victor stated incredulously. Raven looked at him, trying to appear brave.

"I don't really have a choice, do I ?"

"Raven... you didn't see yourself. You.. I've never seen you like that. You can't willingly do that to yourself, it's insane." Richard gestured to her almost angrily, frustrated that she would try to do that to herself on purpose.

"And waiting for my father to drop in by surprise isn't? Look, Richard, it's nothing I can't handle. But I've already dealt with the end of the world once; I don't want to do it again."

"Well is there anything we may do to assist you, friend ?" Kori, who had stayed mainly silent until this point, asked.

Raven shook her head. "Unfortunately, this is something I'll have to deal with alone."

...

"Ok Rae, this serum should induce a state where you can dream." Victor said, tapping the side of a syringe, checking for air bubbles. Victor had been working for hours to create a serum that would help her reach her goal. Finally, around dinner time, he had found her and told her to come with him. Now both he and Kori were helping her prepare in the infirmary. Victor had insisted she complete the procedure in the infirmary so he and Kori could help keep an eye on her.

Raven gulped, looking at the large needle. "How long will it give me?" She asked, trying to keep herself settled as she sat on the cold metal infirmary table.

"Well that all depends on you." He replied, and motioned for Kori to swab Raven's neck with alcohol. "Could last 10 minutes, could last 5 hours. It all depends on what your mind allows you to do."

Victor stepped forward once Kori had sufficiently cleaned the area. "Just a little pinch, and then out like a light!" He said, trying to lighten the mood. Raven tried to smile, but found she just couldn't.

Victor pushed the needle into her neck, and everything went hazy.

...

_Raven opened her eyes slowly. She was standing in a wide open space: no walls, no light. She felt hot breath on the back of her neck, and felt a hand curl around her throat from behind. Her breath caught as the hand dug it's nails into her neck sharply. _

_"Was my warning not enough for you, sweet Raven?" The voice of her twin sang in her ear. Raven clenched her eyes closed and stayed perfectly still. "Do I need to spell it out for you ?" The twin chuckled cruelly. "I am the thing that lurks in the darkest parts of your soul. I am the thing that eclipses even your greatest fears. I know your darkest, deepest desires." The twin snarled in ravens ear, biting lightly. "I know the things you wish you could do. Or should I say _who_ you could do." The twin all but cackled in ravens ear._

_Raven's eyes shot open and she flailed, spinning around to stare at her twin. "What are you saying." She growled between grit teeth. _

_"I'm saying your infatuation with our emerald-skinned teammate is .. most intriguing." The twin edged closer to Raven, running a hand up her thigh tantalizingly. "I know you want to know what he feels like moving over you, touching you, feeling-"_

_"That's enough!" Raven gasped, stumbling away. "Stop it!"_

_"What, too graphic for you? Sweet Raven, I'm just getting started." The twin lunged forward, catching Raven by the throat and tackling her to the ground. Suddenly it was Garfield's body over hers, and he pressed a kiss to her jaw, running a hand down her side. His hand traveled over her body, coming to a rest on her inner thigh. _

_"Mmmh, Raven.." The ghost Garfield moaned, kissing down her neck. _

_Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew it wasn't real, but in that moment all she could feel was his fingers rubbing against her and his kisses. It was as if she were on a high, and his lips were her drug. _

_"Garfield..." She moaned quietly. _

_Suddenly her twin had reappeared, chuckling against Raven's neck. Her hands reached up to grip Raven's throat. She dug her claws in, cutting through skin savagely down to her spine. _

_Just before it all went black, the twin whispered "Soon you'll know what it feels like to lose him." _

_And then her spine was ripped from her body. _

...

Raven awoke with a start, her momentum yet again sending her forward until she almost fell off the medical table. Raven's powers lashed out, sending cracks of black lighting across the ground. She clutched her middle and barely had time to get her face over the edge of the table before her muscles seized and she retched, her stomach emptying it's contents onto the floor.

Kori let out a startled squeak, and ran to grab the wastebasket. She put it under Raven, catching the last bit of her retching.

"Friend! Please, are you alright?" Kori's voice shook as she ran her hand soothingly over Raven's back."What happened?" Raven leaned against the edge of the table, trying to still her wildly beating heart.

"I... I still got nothing." She said miserably. The trance had been a waste, and she was no closer to deciphering her dreams than she was this morning.

"You did not dream?" Kori asked, puzzled.

"No, I did. But it only left me with more questions than answers." Raven's eyes searched the infirmary and found Garfield across the room and her breath caught. His expression was enigmatic, and his body was tense.

"Friend..." Kori started, unsure of how to say what she needed to say.

"Yes?" Raven urged her on.

"You.. You called friend Garfield's name in your slumber." Kori finished, a blush layering her cheeks. Raven stared at Garfield at a loss for words.

"I..."

"You were just scared, right?" Garfield said, trying to keep the situation from getting any more awkward than it already was. He uncrossed his arms and stood up from where he was leaning against the wall. "You would have called any of their names. It was just a coincidence."

Raven nodded dumbly, not trusting herself to talk.

"So that's that." He stated, his demeanor oddly rigid. "I'm gonna go let Vic know you're up." He said, and left the room in a hurry.

"Star.. how bad was it?" Raven asked, all but mortified. She cradled her head in her hands miserably.

"Well you.. um, what I mean to say is, it was not so shocking that it was his name you called... more.. it was shocking the _way_ you called it." Kori danced around the subject, trying to find the correct words.

"What do you mean_ the way_?" Raven asked, though she had a feeling she already knew.

"It seemed as though you were... I mean... you _moaned_, you see?" Kori turned from Raven and busied herself with checking Raven's vitals on the screen.

Raven groaned and flopped back on the table. _Of course_ that would happen to her.

"Do not fret, friend! He did not seem to notice your tone." Starfire tried in vain to reassure Raven. Raven knew very well Garfield understood her tone. Why else would he have bolted from the room as he did? Why else would he have been staring at her like that?

"Morning Rae! Or should I say, good night. You've been out for hours." Victor approached, grabbing the clipboard from Kori and reading her notes on Raven's vitals and condition. "Must have been some trance, huh?"

"It.. was. But I didn't get what I needed." Raven sighed, running a hand through her messy hair.

"Well you can always try again tomorrow." Victor said, frowning at something on the clipboard.

"No."

"No?" Both Victor and Kori asked at the same time.

"I have to go back under. Now." She said, reaching for a syringe on the tray next to her. Vic yanked it from her reach, staring at her like she was insane.

"Like hell you do!" he said, hands on his hips. "Your body is drained. You can't push yourself like this! You need rest and food and a shower."

Raven sighed, and nodded slowly. "Sure Vic, I'll take a break."

"Good. Now, I need to check your blood pressure. Your vitals are sorta weird. Could just be because of the induced state, seems like your body is acting almost as if you were in a coma." Victor said, almost to himself. He turned to grab the arm band to take her blood pressure, and Raven took her chance.

Raven's powers ripped the syringe from Victor's hands, and plunged it into her neck. Kori let out a strangled shout, and Raven let out a gasp as her powers emptied the contents of the syringe into her body. Victor rounded on her, his face a mask of shock.

"Sorry... Vic..." She managed to mumble, before passing back into unconsciousness.

_..._

_Raven opened her eyes to find herself in her bed. Was the trance over already? Had her friends moved her into her own bed? She stood, confused, and walked to the door. As she reached for the 'Open' button she heard a dark whispering from behind her. She whipped around, but there was no one there. Only the familiar darkness of her room. Still, she couldn't place the sick, sinister feeling she had in the pit of her stomach. Settling herself, she opened the door and made her way down the hall towards the common room. A shiver ran up her neck and she felt like she was being watched. _

_Suddenly, there was a deep rumbling laugh that set her teeth on edge, and she spun around, trying to locate it's owner. A hand reached from behind her, dragging her back so she was flush against someone. A very distinctly male someone._

_"Are you afraid, Raven?" The cold voice spoke in her ear. _Slade.

_"How are you here?" _

_"Haven't you figured it out?" He chuckled, and the noise sent shivers down her spine. She stared at the doors to the common room in front of her, trying to think of anything but how her backside was pressed against his chest. "You have something I want."_

_"Haven't you taken enough from me, Slade?" Raven whispered, wishing her voice sounded stronger. Slade tisked at her, and breathed in against her hair, causing Raven to try to pull away. _

_"You have Trigon's blood in your veins, child." He said, his voice dropping low, almost growling. _

_"Are you insane? Didn't you see the destruction Trigon brought the last time you tried to summon him?" She gasped, incredulous, still fighting his hold._

_Slade Gripped her tighter by her arms, yanking her against him harshly, bringing her closer if that were even possible. Suddenly, one by one, her friends evil doppelgangers appeared in front of her. _

_"Silly girl, I don't want trigon back, I want his power. And you're going to get it for me. Or all your friends will die."_


End file.
